The Black Annual Winter Solstice
by jigglyjelly28
Summary: My heart picked up, though I was still thoroughly distraught by my future. "What?" I sniffed. "Come hide with me. You've already changed your future by doing that. Decide soon, I leave tonight." Written for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition


_**Written for 'The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition' Round 8:**_

**Prompts used:**

#6. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. – Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

#15. Dialogue: "Your father and I disagree; you are forbidden

#7. Tap on the window

* * *

I had met Charlus Potter the same way I had met every other pure-blood in the Wizarding society in London – the Black annual winter solstice. Of course, the Potters had shown up to nearly every ball we had held, apart from years back in 1918 when Charlus, being no more than 3-years-old, was on the run with his parents from the Muggle government for his father not participating in what they called "The Great War". Cowardice, the Muggles had called it, but we all knew better.

It was just a little something called pride. _Pride_ at being a pure-blood and not sinking so low as to join in a Muggle war that had left millions dead. Of course, there was also some cleverness to not joining and having a much better chance of living, unlike what I heard about one of the Weasley men who had joined only a year before the end.

Most of the families I knew were on the run during the four years that it had lasted, never staying in the same place more than once; while families with more than one child that was too young to truly understand what was happening - like mine - went into hiding.

Charlus was someone I had known all my life, as I had known my brother, Pollux or my sister, Cassiopeia; and just like the last few solstices, I was irrevocably drawn to him. As he had gotten older, he had gotten even more handsome and I had only begun thinking about it two years ago, when he had just turned 21. There was just something about how he had danced with me that year, and how every time I saw him, his messy black hair was always in his eyes – a trait reserved only for Potters. His smile was deliciously crooked, his smirk was devilish and his green eyes always amused.

Thanks to a German Muggle named Hitler, who was threatening to start World War II, I had gone all out this winter solstice before I would have to go into hiding with my family or Abraxas Malfoy, who I am now officially betrothed to.

Since we had one every year (if some war that was affecting the world wasn't going on), I never really bothered much for looking my absolute best since I was never one to want too much attention though I dressed well enough for my position in society. However, tonight I was wearing my best gown; made of a silver material that shimmered as Charlus spun me. The dress pooled around my feet and even had a little train. My back was exposed, giving view to the clear marble skin that was the only trait that I had seemed to inherit from my mother. My best diamonds were hung around my neck and my hair in an elaborate bun.

Charlus was looking handsome and as smartly dressed as always in his robes. With most of his inheritance already in his own Gringotts vault now that he was 23-years-old, he went all out whenever buying things and was easily one of the best-dressed men in the room tonight.

He grinned devilishly at me as we span in time with the other couples and I smirked back at him. This definitely wasn't our first dance of the night. In fact, after he had kept me on the floor once the second song had finished to wait for the third to be played by the orchestra, I had stopped counting. None of the other men had a turn to dance with me yet, as he had kept me so close. It wasn't as if the attention was unwanted, however, more along the lines of dangerous; the Malfoys were gladly not here, for if they were and Charlus continued to act this way I am afraid that the engagement would be cancelled. My parents were already throwing covet glances at the both of us, making sure that I knew my place as a fiancée and did nothing to ruin the potential image of me.

However, when he had whispered in my ear asking who I was looking at, I couldn't help but secretly point out my father and mother to him and explain why, to which he gave an extremely surprised look as if he hadn't known. But he must've, hadn't he? It was the talk of the households - the only upcoming thing in this dark time as well as being the biggest wedding to have happened so far. Maybe it was just the fact that the betrothal had been finalized so late. I was already 19; how much longer would it be until I am no longer useful to my husband?

He didn't press the matter, thankfully, and instead gazed up at them who were overlooking the whole thing from the view on the dais. Luckily neither Pollux nor Cassie were there with them, otherwise I would've already been pulled away from the dance floor to be reminded where my place in society was, as if I didn't already know. I wouldn't have been able to dance with Charlus for the rest of the night, and most likely be stuck with Arcturus since he was the eldest cousin and was about to live through another world war, whereas I had enough luck to have been born two years after the first one had finished.

Charlus commented on their frowns and made a big show of dipping me as we waltzed past their place on the dais. He smirked up at them, an almost challenging look in his eye. "What was that for?" I asked, blushing slightly.

"What was what for, Dorea? I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," he said, an amused glint to his eyes.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Potter," I said. As he spun me under his arm, I made sure to slow down long enough to catch a look at their faces. Just as I had expected: frown lines on their respective foreheads as they marched over to Cousin Regulus and interrupted one of his many dances that he was having with each and every eligible girl in the room. Not exactly the greatest example to have chosen since everyone knew that neither Regulus nor Lycoris were to marry soon, as they were already in their 30s and didn't even have a fiancée. "Congratulations, Mother and Father are extremely unhappy now."

He looked down at me, smiling. He stared me in the eye as if he was about to share a secret. "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way," he said. "Do not reprimand me for making yours even more special."

I glared at him, but it didn't seem to deter him from grinning. "Well, we'll see how truly special we are soon. Regulus is coming this way."

_That_ succeeded in turning his smile upside down. His eyes narrowed towards him and his lips turned down in a frown that was akin to a child when they didn't get what they wanted. It wasn't quite on the verge of a temper tantrum; it was just sad enough to know that he was close to becoming sulky, even at the age of 23. He bent his head closer towards mine, as we continued with the waltz as if we hadn't noticed Regulus coming towards us. "It seems that our time here is finished," he murmured. "I might go for a walk on the grounds then. Did your parents decorate them this year? They were almost as beautiful as you on your 18th." I blushed darkly as he stepped away and bowed to me, just as any respectable gentleman would, and placed a chaste kiss on my hand, though it seemed to linger ever so slightly. Regulus appeared only seconds later and spun me around to face him, as we smoothly slipped into a dance.

"I never liked him," Regulus said, frowning in Charlus' direction as he slipped through the doors to the garden. I raised an eyebrow at him in a silent question, but I never voiced any of my opinions. They were to be kept to myself or else I would be in even greater trouble. "Did you know that he apparently spent 500 Galleons on the best Seer in Europe just so he could see if this World War II business is going to happen? Absolutely ludicrous, that is."

I grinned. "Ludicrous that he cares whether the war is going to happen or not, ludicrous that he spent that much on a Seer or ludicrous that he actually believes what they say?"

Regulus smirked back at me. "All three," he said, then frowned. "He doesn't know how to handle money; not like Abraxas does. Potter spends it on whatever his latest whim is. His inheritance will be gone before the next five years are up. How are you meant to support a family like that?"

"I know what you are doing, Regulus. You think I don't know, but I do," I said. "Abraxas is charming, really, and I know I'm engaged to him but can you truly see him being faithful to me? You don't think I know about him, but I know that he's had more girlfriends than _you _and you're older than he is. Fifteen in the last month, I think it was. Now, Charlus – Charlus may be careless sometimes, but he's more trustworthy than Abraxas and I value that."

He rolled his eyes. "Don't act as if you have a choice, Dorea. You'll marry Abraxas because Cygnus says so, and you'll love and serve him, as any wife should," he said condescendingly. "Imagine if the Parkinsons' daughter started having these thoughts. She'd be cast out immediately if she started refusing to continue with her marriage to the Bulstrodes' son and instead wanted to be with someone else. Why do you think you would be any different?"

I narrowed my eyes at him and fought to keep the angry blush from colouring my cheeks. "Who said anything about marrying Charlus instead?"

"Don't try to deny that you thought about it," he snapped.

"We were only talking Regulus. _Only talking. _Mother and father can continue to plan the wedding if they like, but I can't and won't love him. It makes no difference to me."

"It does to everyone else. What a disgrace you'll be to be unfaithful to him."

The song had ended then and I had broken forcefully apart from him, though he still upheld the gentleman look and bowed to me, glaring from underneath his fringe. "Thank Merlin," I growled lowly as the next song started up. "I'm going." I picked up my skirts and turned around, only to bump into two people. I looked up at them and my stomach dropped when I realised that it was my parents.

"Your father and I disagree; you are forbidden," my mother said in a cool tone. Father stood stonily by her side and as Regulus straightened up; he placed his hand on my back and led me away from the dance floor and after my parents who were walking towards the drawing room. Not wanting to make a scene, I followed with as much grace as I could muster.

Once we were there, the door was locked and the Silencing Charms were placed, I immediately asked them why I was forbidden from going anywhere.

The answer was simple: The somewhat silly crush I had on Charlus needed to go and the only way that was going to happen was to make me unable to see him or anyone else outside family until the wedding, which would be held in the Black Manor.

Needless to say, the Potters weren't going to be invited.

They knew that he was either in the garden or in the ballroom dancing again, seeing as only family had access to entering the many other rooms in the Manor, so they also knew that we would eventually find each other. And that was a big _no. _

They held no compassion as they told me that they were prepared to do anything to make sure that I didn't bring the family even more down in the social standings, after my elder brother Marius was born a Squib. They didn't care about love, free will or any other "silly notions that Charlus had obviously put in my head"; as far as my father and cousin were concerned, women thinking was dangerous and would ultimately be our downfall. They said that they loved me, but would only let me out from my room for the wedding or when I learned that Charlus shouldn't have a place in my life - whichever came first. Then, before I even had any time to grab my wand, my father Stupefied me.

* * *

I woke up some time later in my bed. Sitting up, I was glad to know that I hadn't been restrained to lying in bed, which made being locked forever more in my room more bearable. I called for a House Elf to bring me a glass of water as I rubbed my head from the headache that was forming. Luckily, my access to the servants hadn't been cut off either, but I would be foolish to think that they would be able to sneak Charlus in or me out without alerting the Lord and Lady of the Manor. It came back seconds later with what I had requested and vanished after I had dismissed it.

I just sat there for a few moments, sipping the water, before I realised that there was a tap on the window. At first I passed it off as a hallucination since I had just woken up after hours of being unconscious, but when it happened several more times – the intervals too long for it to have been an owl – I stood up and crossed the room to look out the window.

I jumped as another object hit the window. However, as soon as whoever (or whatever) realised that there was movement behind the glass, they stopped and called out my name as loud as they dared, not wanting to alert the rest of the household.

I immediately knew the voice, even if it was muffled by everything in between us, and opened the window. At first it wouldn't open, being too stiff to push out, and I worried that it was locked; but after a few more tries, it opened with a loud creak. A cold gust of air from the garden blew into the room making me shudder.

"Dorea!" He called in a hushed voice from somewhere in the dark. "Dorea is that you?"

"Yes!" I called back, keeping my voice low. "Yes it's me. What are you doing there? Where are you?"

I faintly heard a sigh, and then out of nowhere, Charlus' head appeared in thin air. I covered my mouth with my hand in an attempt to smother a scream before I gained the attention of my parents or elder siblings.

Somehow, in the dark, he saw my shocked expression and grinned. "Invisibility cloak," he said in a way of explanation. "Father gave it to me. Family thing. Very rare." He looked around himself quickly, scanning the area for any sort of danger or reason to hide back under his cloak. When he decided that it was clear of threat, he turned back to me and I saw a faint hint of a frown. "You didn't come to the gardens."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement. I sighed. "I'm locked away until my marriage to Abraxas," I said. "I don't want to marry him; I don't love him. My parents think that it'll pass once I've been secluded and will eventually come to my senses."

His head bobbed as he shuffled from foot to foot, something that he only did when he was nervous. "You don't...love him?" He asked. "Since when did you care about that?"

I suddenly wished I hadn't said so much. "I hear you went a Seer about the war," I said, diverting the subject away from me.

He hesitated for a second, confused, but then said, "Not..._exactly_. It is true that I went to a Seer to discover if war was what awaited us tomorrow, but I also went to see about _your _future Dorea."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because, how could I go traipsing across England, country to country, without knowing whether you'll even be here at the end of it?"

My cheeks burned and it felt difficult to breathe. I gripped the windowsill and focused on speaking in an even tone. "So it's going to happen. The war, I mean. There's going to be another."

His floating head shook side to side. "Yes, but – Dorea, didn't you hear me? I _can't _go without knowing you're safe."

I forced myself to nod, but my head felt too heavy to do such a simple task. My eyes were filled with tears, making my sight blurry. "What happens to me?" I tried my hardest to keep my voice strong, but it broke at the end.

He looked down at the grass. "You're at home alone one night, while Abraxas was out scouting the area, when a rocket strikes your home. It was silent; you never knew it was coming." As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I broke down in sobs. I was going to die, that was definite – I just didn't know when. He shook his head again, as if trying to dispel the image. He then looked at me, stance resolute. "I love you Dorea. Change your future; come with me, please. Let me protect you as best as I can."

My heart picked up, though I was still thoroughly distraught by my future. "What?" I sniffed.

"Come hide with me. You've already changed your future by doing that. Decide soon, I leave tonight."


End file.
